Here she finds her best friend from Middle School, Sakura Kuriyagawa, working three different jobs to keep afloat. With her help as well as the help of Sakura's friend Shuichi Tataki (neither of which are convinced by Key's story), they plan to make Key into a Idol singer. They reason that someone following in the footsteps of Production Minos' biggest star, the mysterious Miho Utsuse, could easily gain the friendship of 30,000 people.

However, in times of extreme stress or danger, a second personality emerges from Key's emotionless form, revealing a girl that is not only more like a human, but one who appears to do supernatural feats.

Key the Metal Idol was released as a 15-episode OVA over a few years. The final episodes are nearly 90 minutes in length.

This show provides examples of:

Awesome, but Impractical: Ajo's PPOR robots; yes, they're humanoid, super-strong, and self-powered, but there are still a lot of bugs to work out. Such as the way they only really work when they're controlled by the same people who contributed the "gel" that powers them.

Miho's career is an extreme example. Because her career is basically a front for testing the PPOR technology, at least half of Ajo's skullduggery is so he can make his company's idol singer sit in a soul-draining control chair and control a malfunction-prone robot made in her image.

Generation Xerox: Sakura's father claims to have had an affair with Key's mother in the past. Sakura knows about it, it turns out, which explains why she started to act possessive towards Shuichi after he became more interested in Key's mysteries; she's afraid that they will relive their mothers' conflict, even though Key has shown romantic interest in nobody.

Human Resources: The "Gel" that powers the PPOR/"Sipe" robots is extracted from humans — usually unwillingly — and leaves the donors comatose and barely alive when too much is taken.

Idol Singer: Deconstructed. The weirdness surrounding Miho Utsuse's career strongly resembles the darker side of normal show business, with her being made into a manufactured product, drained of all life, and replaced by someone else considered to be indistinguishable from her.

Leaning on the Fourth Wall/Post Modernism: One manner to interpret this perspicacious exchange uttered by Wakagi and Shuichi in Episode 14 after Shuichi engages in disclosing what he has learned from his visit to Mamio Valley:

Wakagi:There could be multiple universes, but Key should only have two futures... to regain her humanity, or fail. Any action should lead to one or the other. Her future should determine her present, and we should have been performing our given parts, but an element of uncertainty suddenly interrupted that determined plot. You! You still can't fit into your role. Do you realize how your good intentions have warped the future, thinking it was for Key's good?Shuichi:How could I change the result? Would Key transform into something inhuman?Wakagi:Exactly! Something inhuman, but we can't go back anymore, and I thought your role was the Greek Chorus.

OVA: Not only is the content of the show unusual for its time, but it was released as an "experimental title": while the fifteen episode amount is unusual enough, the first thirteen episodes run normally (25 minutes), while the last two are about 90 minutes apiece. Also, when it was first released in Japan, it was initially a far lower price than most OVA series (a VHS of the first episode was around 2,500 yen (appx. $20), and a 3-episode laser disc was 5,800 yen (appx. $55), which at the time was less than half of other OVA sets). By the time the final episodes came out, it was priced normally.

Red Baron: D. Yes, it's his code name, but A, B and C just don't sound as cool. And they aren't.

Ridiculously Human Robots: Part of the Deconstructor Fleet. Key is introduced as a robot who's "very well-made," able to drink water, shower, and sleep, and this leads to everyone in school bullying her because they assume that her robotic behaviour is just for fun and that she's a human having delusions. Even her Only Friend, Sakura, wishes Key would just give up on "pretending." Then the accusation that she's just a human turns out to be true.

Robot Girl: Key, of course, and the many Miho and Beniko robots running around. Subverted, since Key only thinks she is a robot, due to a failed experiment by her grandfather that sapped Key of much of her emotions and memory.

Scam Religion: Prince Snake-Eye's "Church of the Golden Snake Savior". Although he ultimately means well, he begins trying to recruit Key in order to heal a sick child who'd gone too long without conventional treatment (because of his parents' faith in him). After Key heals the child, he enlists his remaining cultists to sabotage Sakura's attempts to get Key into show business so he can win her back.

Stripperific: Beniko's stage outfit at her debut during Miho's concert late in the series.

The Svengali: Tsurugi was Miho's mentor until she left and joined Production Minos (Ajo). It becomes clear that there were hurt feelings on both sides of the relationship when they meet again in the fourteenth episode. It also becomes clear that he's started to view Key as his Greatest Second Chance.

Talking to Herself: Both Miho Utsuse and Beniko Komori (the spunky young performer chosen as Miho's understudy/successor/replacement) share the same voice in both the Japanese version (Chiyako Shibahara) and the English dub (Saffron Henderson).

Technopath: Sergei eventually realizes that he's gained the ability to control the PPOR robots without any devices, thanks to his frequent abuse of Gel.

Third-Person Person: Key combines this with Spock Speak and Creepy Monotone. In the Japanese version, she switches between "atashi" and "Key," but in the dub, she always uses the third person. She still speaks in the third person after "becoming human", making the transition all the more disheartening.

You Would Make a Great Model: Happens to the very naive title character. Fortunately, the scumbags ordered delivery, and the delivery girl turns out to be Key's childhood friend Sakura, who figures out what's going on and saves her.

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